It’s not uncommon to reach middle age and decide that it’s time to lighten up, lose that spare tire, get down to fighting weight. If you’ve ever met builder and painter Gary Watson, you’ll know that the man himself doesn’t have a pound to spare off his wiry frame, but he did feel that the notchback Ford in his shop was packing excessive pounds, so he put that pony on a diet.

The result is a slim fox indeed, weighing in at 2,400 pounds, and just 100 pounds of that is bodywork. Every panel on the car but the roof is carbon fiber/honeycomb core and Gary says the composite pieces are so strong he can sit his kid on the decklid and not worry about cracking the carbon. All that CF is hung over a chrome-moly tube chassis which sets the engine back 17 inches and sets the wheel base and tracking longer and wider by 3 inches.

For locomotive force Gary built a supercharged Coyote. It’s not been on a dyno yet, but Gary promises he’ll let us know once it is. Heck, even if the mill were stock, such a light car is going to be a riot to drive. Additional fun comes in the form of an upgraded suspension; Hotchkis S197 in the rear and remote coilover shocks on all four corners. Basically, it’s got a 2013 suspension on a 1990 ‘Stang. This is good. The transmission is a NASCAR-style G-Force with a triple disc carbon clutch and sending power to a Currie 9″ rear. All that power will spin 18×13 rear HRE wheels and 18×11 HREs will point the car in the right direction.

Speaking of steering, Gary has an adjustable Tommy Lee steering quickener which can be set for a mere 1.5 turns lock to lock or increased to 3 turns for straight line runs.